Home Renovation Tax Rebate Calculator

Both the Quebec and Canadian governments are offering home-renovation tax rebates this year as an economic stimulus measure. Now the Quebec government has an on-line calculator to help you figure out how much you could get back.
Cool tool, though I have to say the disclaimer at the bottom of the page is a bit of a buzz kill:

The calculator can be used to estimate the assistance you may be entitled to, based on certain assumptions designed to reflect the most common situations. The exact amounts will be determined by the responsible departments and organizations on the basis of the specific characteristics of each measure and depending on the specific situation of each household.

It kinda reminds me of those perscription ads on TV. "If you experience double vision after applying for the Quebec home-renovation tax credit, or persistent itching, should you grow hair on your tongue or develop a third eye in the middle of your forehead, consult a professional. The Quebec home-renovation tax credit may not be suitable for all users."

Jane's Walk - Point St. Charles

It was a sunny if blustery day for Jane's Walkers in Point St. Charles today as three local volunteer guides led about 15 people on a walk through the old working class neighbohood. The talk was a little heavy on political skirmishes of the past and a little light on the kind of human-interest stories that bring neighbohoods alive. Still, I'm glad I went. A lively discussion broke out about which is the best Indian restaurant on the main drag, Centre St. Apparently four of them have opened in the last year.
I gleaned a few things during the walk. If you've ever biked the Lachine Canal bike path, you might have noticed the remains of the red brick factory and a blackened smokestack just east of the Charlevoix Bridge. (Left) It is all that remains of a 19th century rope-making factory, the Converse Co.. The factory was a narrow building that lined the canal from the Charlevoix St. to, wait for it, Ropery St. a long city block away. Now I know how Ropery St. got its name. Because the rope was wound around stanchion located at either end of the factory, they needed a long footprint, but not a lot of width.
St. Gabriel's Church on Centre St. in the Point was built by the sizable Irish community in 1895.(Right) It was the second church built on the site, replacing a wooden church built in 1875.
In 1954 the church was heavily damaged by fire, which explains why it has no steeple. By that time, many of the working-class Irish who had filled its pews had moved out of the neighborhood. The bell tower never was rebuilt.
According to our tour guides, the first Europeans settled in what is now Point St. Charles in 1654. It was mostly agricultural land. Today, 43 per cent of the neighborhood's rental stock is social housing.

Bike Paths in and Around Montreal

The Montreal Mirror, a newspaper with which I started my journalism career*, has a good piece on area bike trails.

* Actually, I started my journalism career at age 11, writing Girl Guide and Brownie news for my hometown St. Bruno Journal. The difference is that I didn't get paid for that column. The Mirror paid me with free LPs (!!!) and the occasional movie pass.

Save Dupuis Park

UPDATE The Gazette now reports that the city is also restricting access to Rutherford Park, the green space atop the McTavish reservoir just south of Pine Ave. at University. Could this have something to do with the fact that people keep documenting how easy it is to get into the filtration plants?

The Gazette reports that without a word of warning, much less public consultation, the city has decided to close Dupuis Park, a four-hectacre green space that sits atop the Atwater filtration plant's water reservoirs.
The city says the park, where locals run, fly kites and play soccer and other sports, was never officially a park. Funny, because it is listed among Verdun borough's parks on the city web site.
Area residents told The Gazette that the non-park's soccer nets and baseball diamonds were removed about 10 days ago.
The city has tried to dodge responsibility, with Verdun saying the green space actually lies within the borders of neighboring Sud-Ouest and Sud-Ouest saying Verdun has long agreed to maintain the park because its three public access points are on Verdun territory.
Now the story is that the green space is the private property of the water filtration plant. The plant will allow some controlled access by sporting associations, but the days of wandering into Dupuis Park for a jog, a picnic or to admire the city skyline are over.
Perhaps they thought no one would mind. They thought wrong. A citizens' group has started organizing to save the park. You can find out how to help and sign a petition at www.4hectares.info


Paul Beaupré, who looks like he has never flown a kite or picnicked in a park in his life, represents the Verdun district in which Dupuis Park is or isn't located. His number is 765-7010 His email is paul.beaupre@verdun.ca The next borough council meeting is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5. The address is 4555 Verdun Ave.

Michel Mérette is the manager of the Atwater filtration plant. I can't seem to find a phone number for him.

If you don't get satisfcation from either of them, you can, as a last resort, file a complaint with Montreal's go-get-'em ombudsman, Johanne Savard at (514) 872-8999 or ombudsman@ville.montreal.qc.ca

Will Recession Create a Back-to-Basics Movement in Architecture?

Witold Rybczynski suggests it might. The renowned Montreal-born architect and thinker asserts that one casualty of the worldwide economic downturn might be what he terms architectural "instant icons".
He was the keynote speaker at the American Planning Association.
Once upon a not-so-long-ago, buildings were designed and built for the long haul. Think the Empire State Building, which at the time of construction was not considered a standout of skyscraper construction, according to Rybcynski. It gained that status over the decades, thanks to the people of New York.

"What makes icons isn't architects. It's really the public," Rybczynski said. "It's really the public deciding on its own, sometimes quickly and sometimes over a long period of time. ... It somehow captures the public's imagination."

That has shifted in recent decades as architects and their clients strove to create instant landmarks. Syndey's Opera House is an example of a signature building that instantly transformed the skyline. Frank Gehry's undulating Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain is another.
But for every success, there are a equal or greater number of failures. He pointed to his hometown's extravagantly unsuccessful Olympic Stadium, The Big Owe, as one example of a "instant icon" that failed and failed big time.
In this report from his speech, Rybczynski seems to fault the Big Owe on practical grounds - uh, the friggin' retractable roof has never once worked - rather than aesthetic - it's fugly - grounds.
Rybczynski says that with money scarce, the pendulum may be swinging back. People will worry more about how a building works and less on how it looks. If that happens, it will be up to the public to decide which buildings are icons.

More on my Verdun Fixer Upper

Here are some more photos from the Verdun fixer upper Amy Barratt and I have spent the last two months getting ready for market.
It's been a journey. The house has had one owner since it was built in 1946. There are a lot of memories - and more than a little memorabilia - inside those four walls.
The owner is nearly 94. He was in no condition to make it ready for sale, so we rolled up our sleeves and got down to it. There were many trips to the Friperie Renaissance with mattresses, small furniture, clothes, books and household items. We went through many bottles of cleaning fluids and scrubbed many walls and floors. I personally raked the front lawn and cut back the overgrown plantings, bagged and baled the leaves and branches. We staged the house with what furniture is left. Finally, I painted the front door a cheery shade of almond white last Saturday.
I hope the pictures give you an idea of how cosy and sweet this house is. I'm hoping it will find a buyer who wants to make it into a happy family home once more. Know anybody? Have them give me a call!
Have an aging family member who is considering downsizing from a house to an apartment, condo or supervised living facility? We would be glad to work with them.

What Were They Thinking, #1 in a series

This photo was part of a set of eight pictures accompanying an otherwise very ordinary MLS listing for a duplex in southwest Montreal. What on earth made the agent A) take this photo B)decide to use this photo to market the property? Kitchen, check, living room, check, bedroom, check. Ah yes, depiction of man on teddy action, check.
Straight up folks, naked people art does not help sell properties. Not even when there are teddy bears involved. In fact, especially not when teddy bears are involved.

Contrary Beauty or The Ghosts of Cities Past

Saw a fantastic show by photographer Martin Berubé and painter Renée Mollitt at the Galerie West in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on Friday night.
Berubé takes evocative photos of the decayed and forgotten corners of the urban landscape in stark black and white. The photo on this post, copped shamelessly from the Spacing Montreal web site, is a window detail from the old Bank of Montreal building on Wellington St. in the Point.
The photos, often of faded signs, empty windows and blank walls are haunted and haunting. I'm always amazed when an artist can find beauty in the kinds of day to day scenes that many of us pass without a second thought.
The show is called Bellezza Contrari, contrary beauty. Sharing the wall space with Berubé is mixed media artist Mollitt, whose landscapes and oversized flowers are rendered in bold colours and given texture by the use of dryer lint, waxed paper, dryer sheets and other recycled materials. They were gorgeous.
The show closes on Tuesday.
By the way, the Wellington St. bank building, owned by McGill architecture prof Pieter Sijpkes looks substantially different today. The good professor lovingly removed the peeling paint by hand to reveal the glowing orange-red brick beneath. I was there last night for a play put on by the Point St. Charles Community Theatre. The non-profit group has a ton of fun and raises money for a youth drama program in the Point. Agatha Christie followed by egg salad sandwiches and home baking. My kind of night on the town!

You'll Never Know If You Never Ask

Canadians are getting to be quite good a negotiating lower mortgage rates, according to a new report from an industry trade group.
For example, in the last year, the typical mortgage-seeking consumer was able to knock 1.68 per cent off the rate posted by their lender,.
That news flash comes to us from CAAMP, the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals. Other highlights:
Three quarters of Canadians who renewed this year saw their interest rate reduced.
The big lesson here? Always ask for a rate reduction. If you aren't confident that you can negotiate with your lender, use a mortgage broker. You don't have to pay for their services. What you might not know is that when you shop for mortgage credit it can actually have a negative effect on your credit rating. Better to let a broker make the call for you.
Other CAAMP tidbits:
There are 9.1 million homes owned in Canada. with a combined estimated value of $2.67 trillion. The outstanding mortgage balance, or money owing, on these homes equals $739 billion.
As a country, we have a 72.3 per cent ownership stake in our homes, compared to the U.S. average of 43 per cent.
But wait, you say. We don't own our houses collectively. Right!
According to CAAMP, 40 per cent of Canadian homeowners have at least a 50 per cent equity stake in their homes.
Two per cent of homeowners owe more on their mortgages than the properties are currently worth. How can that be? Just remortgage your house and then watch a market - Calgary? Vancouver? take a downward turn.
15 per cent of Canadian mortgage holders took money out of their houses this year, often to pay down other debt or consolidate debt. In all Canadians applied $34 billion of their built-up home home equity to other debt or projects or this year.

It's Always Spring At This House

Snapped a picture of this cheerful house just outside the entrance to Parc René Lévesque in Lachine. In case you've never been, the park is a sculpture garden on a spit of land that juts out into Lac St-Louis. A great place for a Sunday walk, bike ride or in-line skate.